Wachusett Regional school board gets poor marks in attendance

HOLDEN — The Wachusett Regional School District Committee has 22 members, and it has been a long time since they all have been at the same meeting.

Since the annual town elections in May 2013, the committee has met 20 times, 13 times for a regularly scheduled meeting, six times for a special meeting, and once for an emergency meeting.

There has not been a single meeting where all members have been in attendance, including the meeting where the committee debated the selection of a superintendent.

Two members of the committee, William Clute of Paxton and Tiffany Ralli of Holden, were absent from the Dec. 9 marathon meeting when the committee debated the qualifications of the three superintendent finalists before selecting Darryll McCall to be the district's next superintendent.

In addition, there have been at least six members missing from every regularly scheduled meeting held in 2014; three members (Ms. Ralli, Robert Remillard of Rutland and Margaret Watson of Holden) did not attend the committee's annual budget retreat on Jan. 11.

On average, there have been at least four members missing from all 20 of the committee's meetings held since the committee was seated after the May 2013 elections.

School Committee Chairman Lance Harris acknowledged that attendance at school committee meetings has not been all that it should be, and said that he has not been informed by any committee members that they are dealing with circumstances that would limit their participation in the committee's work.

Five members of the committee, Mr. Clute, Ms. Ralli, Mr. Remillard, Matthew Ehrenworth of Rutland and Deidre Kosky of Holden, have missed at least five meetings. Ms. Ralli has missed 12.

Ms. Ralli said that since she was elected to the school committee in May, there have been two different family circumstances that prevented her from attending committee meetings.

"It's been a wonderful experience," she said. "I feel bad that I am not able to participate as fully as I would like."

Mr. Ehrenworth, who has missed five meetings and works as a school administrator in Framingham, said that some of his absences were due to work conflicts.

"I am definitely committed to serving the public — this is not something I take lightly," he said.

Like Ms. Ralli, Mr. Ehrenworth was elected to the committee in 2013.

"I was a write-in candidate, and I took the seat because I wanted to do what was right for the kids and the community," he said.

Mr. Clute, who has been on the school committee since 2009, said that his attendance this year was an aberration and that his absences are due to a combination of business travel and personal illness.

Since the municipal elections in May, he has missed eight meetings.

"It's a bit of an oddity this year," he said. "I have missed a little more than normal, but the committee and its subcommittees have been meeting more frequently than in previous years.

"I am committed to seeing it through my term, and then I will evaluate whether or not I will continue."

Calls to Ms. Kosky. who has missed 10 meetings since May, and to Mr. Remillard, who has missed eight meetings during that time span, were not returned.